■cz^n 



ADDEESSES 



INAUGURATION 



EEV. ALONZO A. MINER, A.M 



A^ 



PKESIDENT OP TUFTS COLLEGE, 



WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1862. 



BOSTON: 
PRINTED BY JOHN S . S P O O N E R , i 

No. 251 Wasiiinoton Strkkt. ] 

18 6 2. 



ADDRESSES 



INAUGURATION 



REV. ALONZO A. MINER, A.M 

7 



PRESIDENT OF TUFTS COLLEGE, 



WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1862. 





B O S T O N : 
PRINTED BY JOHN S . S P O N E K 



No 251 Wasiiingto.v Stkkkt 



1 8 G 2. 



^ J 5 i ^ 1 



ORDER OF EXERCISES. ' ^ ''^ 



PRAYER, BY Rev. THOS. J. GREENWOOD. 

M xj s I a • 

PRESE^^TATION ADDRESS, BY LUCIUS R. PAGE, D.D. 
REPLY BY PRESIDENT MINER. 

M XT S :£ G . 
ORATION IN LATIN, BY HENRY LYON, 

OF THE SENIOR CLASS. 

INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

CONCLUDING RRAYER, BY Rev. CHAS. II. LEONARD. 

D O X O I- O G Y . 

Fkom all that dwell below the skies, 
Let the Creator's praise arise ; 
Let the Redeemer's name be sung, 
Throiij^h every land, by e^■ery tongue. 

Eternal arc thy mercies, Lord, 

Eternal truth attends thy word ; 

Thy praise shall sound from shore to sbore, 

Till suns shall rise and set no more. 

B !•: N i: D I C T ION. 



AD DUE SS 



Rev. LUCIUS R. PAIGE, D.D., 



ON BEHALF OF THE TRUSTEES, 



REPLY 



PRESIDENT MINER. 



ADDRESS 



Rev. Sir and Brother: 

The Trustees of Tufts College have empowered me 
to induct you into the office to which you have been 
unanimously elected. This service I perform with 
mingled emotions of pleasure and sadness : of sad- 
ness, because I have not ceased to deplore the event 
which made that office vacant ; and of pleasure, 
because I believe that you have peculiar qualifications 
for the position assigned to you, and your election 
has gratified my individual desire. 

The people of New England have always felt the 
importance of educating the young. When our 
ancestors, few in number, founded a Colony on these 
shores, their first great work was to plant churches, 
and the second to establish schools. They cheerfully 
denied themselves many of the comforts of life that 
the young might be instructed in the way of the 
higher life and of knowledge. "Their deep poverty 
abounded unto the riches of their liberality," in order, 
as it is quaintly expressed on the record, "that learning 
may not be buried in the gi'ave of our fathers in the 
Church and Commonwealth." Common schools and 



Gmmmar schools, therefore, were early established by 
law, and were required to be maintained at a common 
charge. But besides these schools, and even before 
them, Harvard College was founded, and endowed 
with the munificent grant of four hundred pounds. 
However small this sum may now appear it actually 
was a munificent grant; for it was more than half as 
much as had previously been levied in any one year 
to defray the public charges of the whole colony. 

Since that period other Colleges have been founded 
in our Commonwealth, and schools have been abun- 
danth' multiplied. Massachusetts has carefully guarded 
the interests of all her schools and colleges, and has 
generously poured out her treasm^es for their main- 
tenance. For all her sacrifices and all her generosity 
on their behalf, she now reaps a rich reward; for 
they are among the choicest jewels in her crown of 
rejoicing. Nurtured in these Institutions, her sons 
have wrought out for her an enviable reputation in 
letters, in science, and in the arts; and much of her 
high moral and religious character, as well as of her 
pecuniary prosperity, may properly be traced to the 
same source. 

Tufts College owes its existence to a profound 
conviction that the wants of our community were not 
fully supplied by any College then existing. Conse- 
quently an appeal was made to the friends of good 
learning, especially to those of our own household of 
faith; and the response exceeded the most sanguine 
expectations. The rich contributed of their abun- 
dance, and others according to their ability. The 
broad acres which surround us, and the lofty hill 
whereon we stand, "beautiful for situation," like 



"Mount Zion, the joy of the whole earth/' we owe to 
the generosity of the venerable man whose name the 
College bears. Others^, whose names shall be had in 
remembrance while these walls stand, contributed 
freely and generously. As a crowning blessing, our 
glorious Commonwealth, now, as formerly, ready to 
encourage Institutions of learning by substantial aid, 
bestowed on this College fifty thousand dollars, with 
the wise and beneficent condition that an equal 
amount should be subscribed by its individual friends ; 
which condition was promptly fulfilled. There is yet 
opportunity, however, for others to give ; for although 
the permanent fund places the College on a firm 
basis, the current income will not yet meet the cur- 
rent expenses. It is believed that this lack will be 
supplied; for the ability and the generosity of our 
friends are not yet exhausted. 

The office which you now assume is one of high 
honor. It is honorable to you to be selected as a 
fit person to stand at the head of this College. 
Especially is it honorable to you to be deemed 
worthy to succeed that excellent and venerable man, 
w^ho was universally respected for his mental culture 
and for his moral purity, who was revered and 
beloved by all his personal acquaintances, and under 
whose fostering care this College has attained its 
present rank. It is also an office of great responsi- 
bility. The direction of the course of study, the 
preservation of order, the inculcation of sound prin- 
ciples of morality and religion, and the general 
supervision of all the interests of the College will 
devolve on you. In this labor, however, you may 
confidently rely on the aid of the Professors and 



8 



Teachers who are associated with you. Their faithful 
services in former years, and especially during the 
difficult period of the last year, have not only given 
them the benefit of much experience, but have given 
us assurance of their competency to aid you, and 
of their hearty devotion to the work. I may safely 
pledge the Trustees to give you a firm and constant 
support in every measure designed to maintain the 
honor of the College and to promote the highest good 
of the Students. And as the Students themselves are 
not boys, but j^oung men who have attained years of 
discretion, it may be expected that they will readily 
comply with your reasonable requirements, inasmuch 
as they must be conscious that diligence in study, 
and purity of thought and speech and conduct, will 
conduce to their own permanent benefit quite as 
much as to your present comfort and gratification. 

The number of Students committed to 3^our charge 
may seem small, when compared wdth those in the 
venerable University in our immediate neighborhood. 
But let not this discourag-e vou. Eemember that 
even Harvard College had its "day of small things." 
Under the administrations of Dunster and Chauncey, 
(whose names will be honored as long as there shall 
be any respect for sound learning,) and of their two 
successors in office, for the space of forty years, the 
President and four Tutors labored diligently with 
fewer students than are now wdth us. During that 
period they never graduated so many as twelve in 
any one year, except in two instances; and the aver- 
age number of graduates was a very small fraction 
more than six. Yet that College is now the j)ride 
and glory of New England. May a like prosj)erity 



9 



attend this College; and may your name, with that 
of your illustrious predecessor, shine in future ages as 
brilliantly as those of Dunster and of Chauncey. 

Much has already been accomplished by this Col- 
lege. President Ballou was inaugurated seven years 
ago. Two years afterwards the first class was 
graduated. The whole number of graduates is now 
fifty-seven ; being an average of nine and a half for 
the six classes. One of the number, after having 
preached for a few months with good promise of 
usefulness, was admitted, as we trust, into the society 
of kindred angels in heaven. All the others are 
supposed to remain on earth, actively engaged in the 
service of God and of mankind. Several of them 
have embraced that profession, — the ministry of the 
gospel, — for whose special benefit the College was 
founded; and of these, some are already bright and 
shining lights. In view of the success which has 
hitherto crowned the efforts of our Patrons, and 
Instructors, and Students, we may devoutly thank 
God, and take courage. 

And now, in the name and on behalf of the Board 
of Trustees, and, as I firmly believe, wdth the full 
concurrence of our many benefactors and friends, I 
commit to your charge the Charter, the Seal, and the 
Keys, as the evidence and the proper emblems of 
your authority ; and I most respectfully salute you 
as President of Tufts College. And may God, the 
Giver of every good and perfect gift, richly endow 
your mind with wisdom and your heart with grace, 
so that you may worthily perform the duties of your 
office, and in due time receive the plaudit, — "AYell 
done, good and faithfid servant." 



10 



REPLY 



May it please you, Reverend Sir, and the Board 
whom you represent : 

In accepting at your hands the Charter, Seal, and 
Keys of the College as symbols of that authority 
which you have now been pleased to confer upon me, 
I share in all the sadness you have expressed. And 
if I do not equally share in the joy, it is because of 
the sincere distrust I feel of my ability to meet the 
just expectations of the Trustees and friends of the 
College. 

In the Inaugural Address of the late President, 
allusion was made to the unfinished condition of 
things upon this hill; and we were exhorted to wait 
till time should finish what was so well begun. Time 
has removed that incompleteness; but, alas, it has 
also silenced that voice whose wisdom sank with such 
emphasis into all our hearts. Long will the shadows 
of this bereavement fall both upon this College of 
his care, and upon all tlie interests of our church. 

I am not unaware of the presumption of occupying 
the place and attempting to discharge the duties 
which he has made so illustrious. Independent of 
this, however, I deeply feel the responsibilities of the 
office. I cannot forget Avith what solicitude our whole 
Zion is looking for the growth of this child of its 
munificence ; to what extent our hopes as a people 
centre in it ; nor how many are the causes which 



11 



may qualify the result. But for the unreserved coii- 
fidence I cherish in the support of the Board of 
Trustees, in the cooperation of this well-tried corps 
of Professors and Teachers, and in the fidelity and 
manliness of the young gentlemen of the College — 
but for the encouragement afforded me by the words 
and example of our late venerable and beloved Presi- 
dent — and but for a firm reliance on the aid of 
Heaven, I should have shrunk from the enterprise. 

You have justly remarked the importance which 
the people of New England have ever attached to 
education. This was exhibited in their earliest 
history. The population of New England has greatly 
increased in numbers, and still more in Avealth and 
influence; but the estimate of the value of learning 
and the preparations for perpetuating it, have fully 
kept pace therewith ; being in advance, probably, at 
the present moment, of their position at any previous 
time. Not only are our Common schools exhibiting 
a degree of excellence in these later years to which 
they were formerly strangers, but institutions of a 
higher grade are being multiplied and improved. 
Colleges are created by the exigencies of the public 
need. They are developed finally from the germinal 
yearnings for knowledge, as is the harvest from the 
tiny seed of the Spring-time. And as the bountiful 
harvest renews the strength of the laborer for a 
continuance of his toil, so the College contributes to 
increase the vigor of the more popular institutions of 
learning. And since all good learning promotes the 
agricultural, mechanical, and commercial prosperity 
of a people, as well as the growth and excellence of 
its schools, he who endows a College, puts in operation 



12 



causes which may reach to the humblest and lowUest 
in the land. He is not seeking the exclusive interests 
of a few, but contributing to the general welfare of 
the many. 

The benefactors and patrons of Tufts College, there- 
fore, are permitted to entertain a degree of satisfaction 
disproportionate to the number of graduates who have 
already participated in their bounty. Not only may 
we expect that this number will be continually increas- 
ing, but far beyond their ranks will this munificence 
be enjoyed ; nor can its extent be fully estimated till 
the ripened harvests of the ages shall be gathered in. 
I cannot forget, therefore, that the manner in which 
the responsibilities of this place shall be discharged 
involves consequences in view of which the sober 
mind may well stand appalled. 

You also very properly refer, in this connection, to 
the interests of religion and of the Christian ministrj'. 
While the College has no Theological department, 
occupying in this respect the same ground as most 
other New England Colleges, it has been our hope 
from the beginning that many of the young men who 
graduate here, would subsequently devote themselves 
to a Course of Theological training, and adopt as 
their profession the Christian ministry. This hope 
has been in a good measure realized. 

But there is another very important respect in 
which the influence of the Colleg-e will be felt in the 
cause of religion. Sound learning is always favorable 
to sound piety. The seeming exceptions are not real 
— the learning itself being defective. Though we 
w^ere in grave error, therefore, as a religious people, 
generous culture would help correct that error ; but 



13 



if, as we gratefully believe, we hold the gospel of the 
grace of God, under interpretations generally as just 
as they are joy-inspiring — and no man is doing more 
than yourself, through your labors as a commentator, 
to make this apparent — solid learning will help us 
diffuse the blessing, and carry consolation and hope 
to many a saddened heart. In either case, therefore, 
as honest seekers after truth, we hail with satisfaction 
the influence of the College in promoting that truth. 

You have spoken. Reverend Sir, of the honor of 
this position. Let me confess to you that its responsi- 
bilities and its hazards have so filled the horizon of 
my view that I have not been able to estimate its 
honors. There are honorable places for men, but 
only for those who honorably fill them. It was a 
wise caution of the king of Israel — "Let not him 
that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that 
putteth it off." If sincere intentions and assiduous 
endeavors can preserve the honor of the trust you 
have committed to me, these shall not be w^anting. 

In accepting, therefore, your salutations, I appre- 
ciate the duties and difficulties of the place — duties 
requiring moderation, candor, coolness, a just estimate 
of motives, and a firm reliance upon the right. I 
shall not for a moment doubt the prompt support of 
your Board, nor the support — and I will add indul- 
gence — of those who have so long filled these chairs 
of instruction. And I humbly pray that God may be 
pleased to add his blessing. 



LATIN ORATION, 



HENRY LYON, OF THE SENIOR CLASS. 



Ex quo fundamenta hujus collegii jacta sunt, pauca 
fuerunt tempora, quibus ejus fautores convenerunt in 
his atriis, quae hodierno die iterum nos benigne excip- 
iunt. Magno gaudio nos afficiunt expectationes pros- 
perarum rerum, quanquam, nobis praeteritaversantibus 
in animis imprimisque in memoriam revocantibus 
ilium, qui faciebat, ut omnia sua facta imaginem magni 
sui animi gererent, nostrum gaudium desiderio tempe- 
ratur. Etsi hodie civilium armorum sonitus auditur, 
fulgentes militum phalerge undique conspiciuntur, et 
victor es fortes constantesque in bello contra secessi- 
onem gesto ab exercitibus libertatis ordinisque maxi- 
mis laudibuset clamoribus efferuntur^tameninprsesenti 
a vario genere bellorum nos removeamus, et hisce 
victoribus in bello contra ignerantiam gesto pro 
mentibus atque animis honor em tribuamus. Hue 
convenerunt propinqui et amici, quorum praesentia 
nobis gratius nihil esse potest. Hie videmus viros 
non illustratos virium gestis, sed qui pulcherrimos 
mentis atque ingenii triumphos deportaverunt ; scrip- 
tores, qui gladium fregerunt penna ; oratores, quorum 
eloquentia omnium sermone celebrata est ; sanctos 
sacerdotes, quibus animae commissse sunt; eos denique 
qui optaverunt ut hoc collegium sit sanas et exquisitaB 
doctrinse sedes. Hos omnes salvere jubeuuis. 

Etsi sunt multi, qui doctrinoe commoda privatis 
necessitatibus habuerint potiora, tamen prsecipue hoc 



16 



die festo ac soUemni de iis, qui hoc collegium condi- 
derunt, ut sit sedes liberalis mentis et progressionis, et 
I0CUS5 in quo veteres errores deponantur, et initium 
novae aetatis statuatur, bene dicere decet. Quod si 
viator in desertis Liby^, quum ex fonte aquam frigi- 
dam biberit, neget unquam se bibisse jucundius, et 
auctori gratias agat, quanto tandem majore honore 
auctores liujus fontis, quo is, qui de sapientia multa 
quaerit, sitim expleat, nos celebrare oportet ! Quibus 
laudibus, quo gaudio eos, qui hoc modo scientiam 
progredientem et mentem excultam suis commodis 
prsetulerunt, prosequi debemusl Quae praeclara ex- 
empla non solum intuenda sed etiam imitanda nobis 
reliquerunt. 

Utinam ille, qui hujus collegii prima initia fovebat, 
et qui nobis non modo praeses, sed etiam pater erat, 
hodierno die a summo coelo in nos, qui honoratum 
ejus successorem convenimus, despiciat. Si veteres 
in memoriam urbium conditorum et auctorum legum 
statuas marmore et acre fingebant, quanto magis nos 
honore rarissimo, pietatis monumentis in animis positis, 
ilium prosequi oportet. Ut vir doctus atque eruditus, 
qui in omnibus bonis artibus nos instituere solebat; 
ut scriptor, qui nullum lab or em graviorem, null am 
calcem longinquiorem existimabat; ut orator, cujus 
eloquentia nobis erat stimulo ad magna et egregia 
facta faciendum; denique, ut Christianus simplex et 
sincerus, qui in omnibus rebus magni ducis et magistri 
exemplum imitari conabatur, cujus pudor et verecundia 
maximam virtutem occultabant a multitudinis conspec- 
tu, his in terris colebatur, et Deus, qui ejus praesentiam 
nobis quaui longissime permisit confestim ilium eripuit, 
ut muiius habere! altius meliusque et aptius exercita- 



17 



tioni eorum divinorum morurn, quos hac in vita gesti- 
mare non possumus. Nobis hsec respicientibus profecto 
libet exclamare verbis Taciti apud manes soceri : 

"Si quis piorum manibus locus, si, ut sapientibus 
placet, non cum corpore extinguuntur magnae animas, 
placide quiescas, nosque ab infirmo desiderio et 
muliebribus lamentis ad contemplationem virtutum 
tuarum voces, quas neque lugeri neque plangi fas est, 
admiratione te potius, te immortalibus laudibus, et, si 
natura suppeditet, similitudine decoremus." 

Neque ille, qui per hoc interregnum, vice prees- 
idis fungebatur, neque omnes nostri doctores indigni 
sunt, qui in hoc conventu grata commemoratione 
celebrentur. Nos enim, qui precamur, ut et gratissima 
bene factorum recordatione perdiu fruantur, et non 
solum hodie sed etiam multis temporibus futuris nos 
eorum prsesentia ornent, verbis ac exemplis in philo- 
sophia et in doctrina instituerunt. 

Quum tamen curatores, penes quos erat summa 
administratio rerum, munus vacare sentirent, et ad eos 
perveniret deligere aliquem dignum, qui in locum 
primi prsesidis praeclarissimi succedat, dolor ex illius 
morte exoriens maxime allevatus est, nobis successoris 
ingenium clarum contemplantibus. 

Te, vir reverende, qui hodie his sollemnibus ritibus 
nostraa almae matri matrimonio conjunctus es, salver e 
jubemus. Pro nobis, qui jam tibi sumus cura ; pro 
illis, qui per tempus proBteritum ex hoc fonte biberunt, 
et praecipue pro illis, qui postero tempore, volentes — 

"Inter silvas Academi qu^rere verum," 
in his atriis lit eras colent ; pro his nostris doctoribus 
honoratis, qui te socium et sui consilii participcm salu- 
taturi sunt; pro his viris venerabilibus, qui clarissima 



18 

voce te in hoc officium lecto, tui animi admirationem 
testificati sunt^ et quibus ergo gratias agere amplissimis 
verbis volumus ; pro illis denique omnibus, quibus 
educatio euros est, et qui hujus aetatis ingenio progre- 
dienti in spem adducuntur omne genus humanum ad 
plenam staturam mentis atque ingenii ad ultimum 
perventurum, te salutamus. 

Quoad longissime facta vitse tuse prseteritse respicere 
possumus, etiam a primo juventae flore usque ad hunc 
diemtemultitudinis^prava jubentis" opinionibus obsis- 
tentem vidimus. Quod si quis sit, in quo summa sint 
omnia, et qui testimonium animi prompti firmique 
dederit, ille tu es. Ut juvenum studia regentem, et 
qui exhortatu prseceptisque eorum beneficio tuum 
ingenium egregium exercere solebat, te salutabimus? 
Sed magni correctores et emendatores nostraB aetatis 
jure quoda,m suo postulabunt, ut eorum socius nuncu- 
pareris, et negabunt jus nos habere hoc modo circumci- 
dendi prseteritae tuae utiUtatis circuitum. De laboribus 
deinde loquemur, quos consumpsisti in liberando im- 
moderate et intemperate viventes et prseterea miseros 
omnes ab vitiorum voragine, in quam inciderant ? 
Sed religio te unum ex firmissimis defensoribus et 
interpretibus lucidissimis, et unum ex horum tempo- 
rum kiminibus declarat. Postremo sokmi manet te 
numerare inter eos, qui in omnibus rebus virorum maxi- 
morum optimorumque exempla secuti sunt. Haec 
omnia respicientes tuse curae committimus commoda 
hujus fontis doctrinac, qui tuis laboribus magnopere 
praesentem prosperitatem debet, et precamur, ut Deus 
optimus maximus hoc collegium prosperet, et omnes 
eos, qui ejus commoda foveant, usque ad temporis 
finem fortunet. 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 



PRESIDENT MINER. 



ADDRESS 



In the remarks I may now submit, I do not propose 
to ask your acceptance of any new doctrines in 
regard to education ; nor do I intend to discuss the 
usual cast of Collegiate studies ; nor yet to enter into 
the controversies between the devotees of the Classics 
and Metaphysics, on the one hand, and of the natural 
and exact Sciences, on the other. Far less ambitious 
will be the discussions of the hour. Our general 
convictions in these respects are sufficiently indicated 
in the facts and circumstances surrounding us. Our 
work is not revolutionary, but regenerative. We 
have founded here, not a New School in Science and 
Literature, but a new instrumentality for the further- 
ance of the Old Schools. We pay our homage to the 
older institutions in the labors we here perform, in 
the sacrifices we here make, and in the hopes we here 
cherish. We aim to secure for our own young men 
throughout New England the same benefits which 
other institutions are securing to the young men of 
other sects. 

Whatever we might prefer in relation to Colleges 
being sustained by the whole public, independent of 
sectarian control, — a cherished plan with some of 
the most learned men of our time, — we really have 



22 



no opportunity for choice. The field throughout 
New England is occupied. The several institutions 
of the higher grade, outside of our cities and larger 
towns, are all under — I use the term in a good sense 
— sectarian control. They are doing their work — a 
noble work — and are doing it well. But they are 
not doing our work. They do not reach our young 
men — do not awaken that ambition for generous 
culture which is essential to the true life of a people. 
This can be done alone by institutions born of our 
own loves; nurtured by the sweat of our own 
brows; sustained by our own efforts; enriched by 
our own sacrifices; and consecrated by the blessing 
of Almighty God through our own prayers. 

There are in New England, at a low estimate, 
probably, a hundred and fifty thousand persons who 
are either directly or indirectly connected with us as 
a religious people. Besides these, a very large por- 
tion, perhaps the largest portion, of those who profess 
no religious faith and attend upon no place of worship, 
in their hearts lean upon us. Such is the genius of 
the several Christian bodies in our community, such 
the conscious or unconscious influences experienced 
])y those who have taken no religious position, that 
their confidence is chiefly given to those who enter- 
tain the broadest Christian hopes. In their seasons 
of festivity and of affliction their thought turns to us. 
Whether it be honorable or dishonorable to us as a 
Christian body, the fact remains the same ; and our 
responsibilities are correspondingly increased. This 
whole body of people may be influenced by our 
eflbrts in the cause of education as they can be by 
the efforts of no other branch of the church. Were 



23 



they all fully awake to the value of liberal culture, 
they would send up their young men to this youthful 
Parnassus in such swarming numbers that these Halls 
would be too straight for them ; and our young Col- 
lege would rival, in this respect, the most venerable 
institutions in the land. 

It is because this institution is ours — because it 
belongs more especially to this body of people of 
whom we speak, that it can awaken among us a 
nobler ambition for sound learning. It can speak as 
no man can speak. The most able and influential of 
its projectors and patrons, however vigorous their 
efforts, could qualify but slightly this mighty current 
of social life. These learned Professors, laboring in 
their several more private spheres of influence, could 
reach relatively few. But when their combined utter- 
ance is heard from this eminence, emphasized by years 
of labor, and by the noble sacrifices of the numerous 
patrons of the College, that utterance becomes, as it 
were, a voice of thunder, echoing and reechoing 
among the mountains and along the valleys until it 
wakes every town and hamlet in New England. 

A College sustained by any body of people as their 
own sets up a new standard of attainment among 
them; quickens them with new and nobler loves; 
and nurtures among them juster and more liberal 
tastes. In a quiet country village the Grammar 
School often marks the limit of the highest youthful 
ambition. But plant a higher Seminary alongside 
that Grammar School, and jou almost immediately 
elevate the aims of the better class of young men to 
the level of its possibilities. What the higher Semi- 
nary of learning can thus accomplish in the retired 



24 



village, the College accomplishes more completely 
among that whole body of people who regard it as 
theu" own. It begets juster, broader, nobler views of 
the true ends of knowledge ; and thus assimilates the 
ambitions of a people to the true aims of a College. 
In commending the good resulting from the employ- 
ment of the regular instrumentalities of culture, no 
suspicion of invidiousness will attach to one who has 
made few approaches to that good, save by irregular 
methods ; and who would be but too happy to aid 
young men in avoiding the inconveniences himself 
has experienced. Whatever may be said in criticism 
of the usual course of Collegiate studies it comes to 
this at last — that every people must bow to the 
prevaihng practical judgment of the world about 
them. Every class in the community, therefore, must 
adjust its instrumentalities to the current facts of the 
time ; and, having done this, they must industriously 
employ those instrumentalities or grow lean in intel- 
lect and in heart. 

We have but to look about us to discover how 
unworthy is the estimate often placed upon education. 
Far the greater number, probably, regard it chiefly as 
an element of enterprise, of commerce, of trade — as 
a means, in a word, of gaining a livelihood. Hence, 
instead of demanding that a nobler culture shall 
exalt and glorify the aims of business, and bear on 
the fruitage of the world's toil to the noblest ends of 
life, they logically conclude that one's business aims 
should both qualify and limit his course of study. If 
the farmer, or the mechanic, or the day-laborer asks 
himself what facilities for education he shall afford 
his sons, he too often resolves the problem by deter- 



25 



mining the occupation to which he will devote them. 
Instead of inquiring what education can do for his 
sons, he inquires how little education can enable his 
sons decently to bear their part in the enterprises 
of life. If he proposes no more for them in the way 
of business than he himself has attempted, he deems 
the rudiments of an education quite sufficient. If, 
on the contrary, he intends to devote them to trade, 
or to any one of the learned professions, he enlarges 
their opportunities accordingly. Their education, 
however, is still special, and respects not the discipline 
of their powers as a good in itself, but the successful 
performance of their labors in their chosen vocation. 

Such an aim is both narrow and defective, and 
cannot but lead to most unsatisfactory results. It is 
quite true that every calling in life demands special 
preparation therefor; but it is a grave error to deem 
that knowledge alone valuable, even in a business 
regard, which bears directly upon one's immediate 
pursuits. No man is strong and every way well- 
equipped, whose culture is confined to the pathway 
of his daily travel. All about that pathway lie the 
fields of knowledge, every flower gathered from which 
sheds beauty and fragrance upon his toil. By a more 
varied culture in the several branches of learning 
cognate to his pursuits, he gains elasticity, freshness, 
and sunlight, where else all would be dull, dank, dark. 

Nor is this all. There is a pretty direct bearing of 
all sound learning upon every practical aim in life. 
Culture in any one profession or pursuit, is useful in 
every other profession and pursuit. Human life has 
multiform needs and interests, demanding varied 
resources in him who would minister thereto. These 



26 



varied interests are connected not b}^ discrete meth- 
ods, but by concrete ; and may, therefore, be promoted 
alone by concrete movements. The several profes- 
sions, both on their theoretical and practical side, 
have much in common. However far removed from 
each other may be their respective centres of gravity, 
there cannot but be broad fields of mingled interests, 
and corresponding domains of truth applicable thereto. 

Take, for example, the science of Theology and the 
Christian Ministry. They employ themselves with 
God and the human soul ; with divine commands and 
human obligations. The Christian minister accepts 
not the service of the hands, but properly requires 
the sacrifices of the heart. He deals of necessity 
with thought and feeling; with principle and senti- 
ment; with purpose and emotion. Whatever qualifies 
these, trenches upon his domain, professionally con- 
cerns, him, and becomes to him a proper subject of 
thought and inquiry. 

Now we have but to turn to the profession of 
Medicine to learn that the varying conditions of this 
tal^ernacle of clay which we inhabit, exert a very 
direct, constant, and important influence upon all that 
pertains to the mind and heart. Varying physical 
conditions can bring cheerfulness or cause depression; 
quicken with hope or repress with fear; nourish con- 
fidence or beget distrust. The skill of the physician, 
therefore, will often detect in what seemingly belongs 
to the spiritual state, symptoms of iDhysical derange- 
ment, calling for the resources of his own especial 
art. 

On the other hand, very palpable physical infirmi- 
ties spring not unfrequently from derangement of 



27 



mental or moral action. The experienced clergyman 
detects this, and finds soothing prayer the best of 
anodynes, and pious trust the most effective tonic. 

Here, then, is a broad middle-ground, at which we 
have but glanced, between the Clerical and Medical 
professions, where the culture of each would be 
highly . and fundamentally serviceable to the other. 
If each were to gain thorough discipline in this whole 
field, fewer mistakes would arise by the substitution 
of pills for prayers and penitence for purgatives. 

In like manner, a familiar acquaintance with the 
principles of Jurisprudence cannot fail to be highly 
serviceable to the Christian teacher. Though spe- 
cifically pertaining to the profession of the Law — 
popularly esteemed at the farthest remove from 
things sacred — they embrace the whole domain of 
what modern writers have termed " social ethics," as 
the basis of positive law, and hence stand closely 
related to fundamental morality. Not only many of 
their elements of culture, but many of their forms of 
professional labor, are enjoyed in common. Hence, 
the Christian ministry would find aid from discipline 
in the Law, both because of the strong affinity for 
each other of the principles belonging to the two 
professions respectively, and because sound judicial 
training would undoubtedly prove favorable to all 
careful inquiry. 

The same principle holds elsewhere. A thorough 
discipline in the art of music is of great value to the 
orator. Not to insist upon the proposition of the 
ancients, that "whenever we speak we sing," there 
can be no doubt that the purity of tone, the graces 
of inflection and emphasis, and the richness of 



28 



cadence, which the musician cultivates, lend beauty 
and grace to the orator, and impart a peculiar charm 
to his periods. The science of Mathematics, in like 
manner, nurtures orderly habits of mind; and the 
Classics, though by no means treatises on Logic, are 
essential aids in almost every field of reasoning and 
investigation. 

Thus, it is not alone the culture specifically appro- 
priate to one's enterprises or profession that can prove 
serviceable therein • but all sound learning is useful to 
all practical ends. Hence the more a man's culture 
transcends his business, the more assured and complete 
will be the success of that business. 

Permit me to mention another aspect of the same 
principle. A long and successful business career 
demands the constant exercise of a prompt and 
sound judgment. But such a judgment is not a 
single faculty, but the fruitage of many faculties. It 
is gained continually by accurate thinking and just 
reasonings. These are more frequently attainable, 
other things being the same, by the man of the most 
generous culture. When adversities overtake such a 
man he does not sink under them, but turns them 
aside, patiently endures them, or resolutely overcomes 
them. If one hope fails him, he is equal to another. 
If one bark sinks, another is ready to spread its sails 
to the breeze. I would by no means encourage an 
ambition to become a universal genius — a folly 
alleged to find large development among us as a 
nation ; but is it wise, on the other hand, for a young 
man to limit his discipHne and his hopes to a single 
line of efibrt; and tliat, it may be, more closely 
related to the luxuries, or the transient wants, than 



29 



to the necessaries of life ? For if he risks all on a 
single venture and that fails him, he sinks, ship and 
commander together. But, possessed of an education 
heyond the limits of his calling or profession, when 
one resource fails him another opens to him. The 
practical question, then, in the education of the 
young, is not how much knowledge may be made 
useful in life — since all sound learning is useful ; 
but how much is attainable. It is a question, to some 
extent, of age, opportunity, resource, responsibility. 

Thus far we have discussed this question — the 
expediency of large culture — with a business aim. 
And even under this aspect of it, we find an urgent 
plea therefor. A liberal education is the best invest- 
ment, financially considered, that the passing genera- 
tion can make for the next. 

But I must repeat that such an aim is both narrow 
and defective. It places the motives to culture on 
the very lowest grounds. To a man inheriting an 
assured competency, it leaves, indeed, no motive. It 
sinks the man in his toil. A just view of learning 
respects man for his own sake ; not man as tributary 
to trade, but trade as tributary to man. It accepts a 
breadth of discipline alone which draws along the 
business world in its wake, and makes both attain- 
ment and business contribute to the exalting, the 
ennobling, and the glorifying of human life. 

Much of the enterprise of the w^orld has respect, 
not to the necessaries, but to the luxuries, elegances, 
and adornments of life ; but as the toilers of earth 
grow wiser, they learn to seek the nobler good. A 
proper estimate of human culture rises at once to this 
nobler aim. 



30 



Consider, further, the sources of pure enjoyment 
which are opened to the scholar in the treasure-houses 
of knowledge — not the simple delight of knowing ; 
nor yet the rare delight to many of gaining knowl- 
edge ; but that sweet cheer imparted by the wisdom, 
power, and goodness of God, revealed in the things 
known. If he seeks converse in his solitude, he is 
not shut up to the uncertain companionships of the 
hour. He can at pleasure wake from the dead the 
intellectual heroes of the past, and sit himself down 
in cosiest communion with the wisdom of the ages. 
This is a resource, not for the intervals of care alone, 
but for that serene evening time when he is about to 
exchange the mingled good of earth for the unal- 
loyed glories of heaven. 

But there is a more vital preparation for the toils, 
the trials, and the vicissitudes of life, in the securing 
of which large culture lends its aid. Do not under- 
stand me to hint, even remotely, that any man is shut 
out, hy the lack of culture, from the pathways of 
fidelity and salvation. Far otherwise. But what I 
would say is, that the pathway of light and knowl- 
edge, if we choose to make it so, is the pathway of 
religious strength. KnoAvledge of man and the world 
removes many of our temptations in life, by enabling 
us to penetrate the disguises imder which they appear ; 
and strengthens us to resist those that remain, by 
enhancing our appreciation of the motives to such 
resistance. Add to this the indispensable aid of 
classical learning in the interpretation of the sacred 
oracles, and the help of general science to amj^ler 
communion with God through his works, and we find 
much to hope for, on behalf of religion and good 



31 



morals, from our higher though non-professional insti- 
tutions. 

Thus the profounder motives to culture centre in 
man himself They look to the awakening and devel- 
opment of his powers, to the deepening and widening 
of the current of his life, and to the enlargement 
every way of his being. But the student rarely 
attains the highest motives in the outset of his educa- 
tional careen Every step of his advance and every 
measure of his success exalts and ennobles his aims, 
until all incidental and transient motives are swallowed 
up in those which are enduring and absolute. The 
enlargement of his views in this regard, is like the 
opening visions of a traveller in a mountainous 
country. Each elevation seems the principal and 
final height until it is reached, when still loftier 
heights rise into view. Every success reveals ncAV 
fields of- beauty and glory; and when, at last — his 
life-journey over — the traveller changes his vest- 
ments, he bears away, as the richest fruitage of his 
life-toil, the conviction that the boundless ocean of 
knowledge lies unexplored before him. 

Very little relatively — let it be granted — is the 
aid that a College, however successful, can render the 
student in this great work. Yet absolutely it does 
much for him. It teaches him the art of stud}^; 
inures him to patient toil ; and, placing in his hands 
the keys of knowledge, sends him forth to engage 
with confidence in his work. It gives him four years 
of camp drill preparatory to the hazardous battles of 
life — a drill needed, not alone in the professions, but 
in the marts of trade, and in the humbler paths of 
toil. 



32 



I have thus glanced at the influence of a College 
upon the true aims of knowledge. This is its most 
vital influence. While it works invisibly at the very 
heart of society, it manifests its power in the promo- 
tion of various visible interests, — such as the general 
institutions of a country, and the social life of a 
people, — upon the discussion of which, however, the 
requisite brevity of these services will not permit me 
to enter. Nor is it necessary. Those who would 
pursue the inquiry are referred to the masterly 
discussion of these topics in the Inaugural Address of 
our late ever-lamented President. I have been con- 
tented to be but a gleaner on the borders of the field 
which he so thoroughly harvested. 

Our own infant institution has already vindicated 
its ability to render the service for which it w^as 
designed. Seven years only have elapsed since its 
formal opening, during which years, as you have 
already been told, it has sent out six classes of grad- 
uates, including the class of to-day — the first consist- 
ing of three members who entered as juniors ; the 
remaining five classes, having received their full 
course here, consisting of fifty-three members — being 
an average of about ten graduates annually — all of 
whom, I believe, have taken high rank in their 
respective vocations 'in life. Some of them are teach- 
ers, some are in trade, some in the profession of the 
Law", and some in the Christian ministry. Harvard 
sent out on an average only about six graduates 
annually for the first forty years of her history. 
Tufts, after seven years, has a library of more than 
7,400 volumes, and a librarian who is devoting regular 
seasons to its care. Harvard had no regular librarian 



33 



for twenty-nine years; and for a century thereafter 
so unimportant were his services regarded that his 
appointment was never referred to the Board of 
Overseers. Tufts is already expending in salaries 
alone nearly six thousand dollars annually, — a sum 
three times as great as the entire original foundation 
of Harvard. 

It must notj indeed, be forgotten, on the one hand, 
that the times have changed — that Tufts has arisen 
in the midst of a numerous and wealthy people — and 
that liberal culture is now more widely valued than 
formerly. But it should also be remembered, on the 
other hand, that Harvard for half a century was the 
only College founded by the descendants of English- 
men, not only in New England, but in the New 
World ; while at present there are, of all grades of 
Collegiate institutions throughout the country, about 
a hundred and twenty-five — of which twenty or 
more are in Ncav England. It is in the midst of 
these twenty institutions that Tufts has arisen. And 
so far from envying any one, even the most renowned 
of them, we rejoice in hope through the cheer of 
their success. The numerous and substantial edifices, 
the classic shades, the ample endowments, the mag- 
nificent libraries, and the world-renowned men of 
science of old Harvard herself, are a pledge of the 
future possibilities of our own humble Tufts. Happy 
is that young man, who, in this age of weak pride 
and vain show, can resolve to share the honors of 
achieving that greatness. 

Those twenty Colleges and Universities of which I 
have spoken, were severally born of the needs of 
certain classes in the community, and have drawn to 



34 



themselves the affections and patronage of those 
classes. This, too, is a prophecy that the affections 
and patronage of that people of whose needs this 
College was born, will be as heartily bestowed 
hereon. Individual exceptions there will be on all 
hands. Already have been welcomed at Tufts sev- 
eral young men from classes in the community which 
commonly patronize other Colleges ; and some of 
our own young men have doubtless been found else- 
where. There are many reasons for this. In some 
cases, proximity, and consequent convenience and 
economy, point out the institution to be selected. 
In others, the influence of one's fellow-students deter- 
mines the College he shall attend. In yet others, 
the teacher who has conducted the preparatory 
course of a class, being an alumnus of a particular 
College, desires to send his class thither in honor of 
his Alma Mater. And in yet others, perhaps, there 
may be a vague hope that some mysterious power 
derived from the reputation of an older institution, 
may galvanize one's diploma, on Commencement Day 
and give it power to bear him through the sharp 
conflicts of life, where, unhappily, he can " coach it " 
no more. 

Few, however, it is hoped, can be swayed by the 
last consideration. The time has come when a young 
man is asked, at least by the wise, not where he 
graduated, but what he can do. Sound learning 
consents to wear no local brand. It circulates in the 
community and blesses its possessor, in basket and in 
store, in heart and in treasury, by no man's permis- 
sion. It is not one thing at Bowdoin and Brown, 
and another at Harvard and Yale; but it is superior 



35 



to the schools as it is to latitude and cHmate. Hence 
a new College, if demanded by the needs of a great 
people, may safely enter the field. To achieve suc- 
cess, it has but to adopt a true aim, and nobly work 
for it. In a great enterprise of this kind, prosperity 
is secured, not by the eminent abilities of a few, but 
by the cooperation of the many. 

That Tufts College is needed, its record thus far 
satisfactorily demonstrates. It has received large 
favor in every regard. It has already been honored 
both in the number and in the character of its 
students. But neither the College nor its friends will 
stand justified in this respect until its numbers are 
greatly increased. To increase them will demand 
the multiplying and strengthening of our Academies, 
that the incentives and aids to study may be brought 
home, as it were, to our youth. The Academies are 
the streams that supply the College. How can the 
reservoir be full except the streams are abundant. 
Here an open door of duty solicits our entrance. 

But the College has, also, been largely blessed in 
means. God in his providence has raised up for it 
munificent patrons, most of whom are still with us, 
rejoicing in the work of their hands, and waiting the 
plaudit, " Well done, good and faithful servants." 
The name of Tufts, of Packard, of Dean, of Wade, of 
Walker, will be associated with these halls forever. 

These patrons have wisely placed the institution 
on probation, by leaving large portions of their favor 
yet to mature. They wisely ask. Can the impatience 
of youth appreciate the sacrifices of age ? Will the 
public send up here, year after year, young men of 
such sterling qualities as render them worthy to share 



36 



the honor of building up an institution of the highest 
grade ? — an institution which shall abide, though 
successive generations of men are hurried to the 
grave ? These questions, nobly asked, will, I doubt 
not, be nobly answered. Honorable chapters toward 
that answer are already written. Others, I doubt 
not, will follow. 

For myself, in entering upon so important a trust 
in connexion with this child of our common love, I 
could desire no prouder record than would be secured 
by a manifest contribution to its usefulness. From 
the laying of its corner-stone to the present hour, it 
has held no second place in my affections. No labor 
in the past, that I have been able to accomplish on 
its behalf, has ever been felt to be a sacrifice. Nor 
will my efforts and watch-care in the future know 
any other limit than that imposed by the most imper- 
ative obligations elsewhere. If assiduous endeavor 
in the department of instruction which has been 
committed to my care, in the daily oversight of the 
College and the affectionate counseling of the young 
gentlemen who may resort hither, and in the conduct 
of religious worship, when not present in person, by 
the best talent and experience I can secure, and in 
regard to which I shall rely with confidence on the 
many able brethren in the neighborhood, — if these 
means shall add anything to the influence of the 
College, of which we have already such just grounds 
for pride, I shall ask no higher reward. Whatever 
burden of labor and care it may bring will be borne 
with a cheerful heart. Nor should I have felt at 
liberty to enter at all upon such a responsibility had 
I not believed it probable, that, when the duties and 



circumstances of the office shall demand a more 
exclusive devotion to the College, I may be ready to 
render it. Meantime, I feel assured that the untiring 
labors of this able corps of Professors who have 
hitherto so well sustained the institution, will leave 
little to be desired. 

Nor can I hesitate to lean with entire confidence 
upon the wisdom and cooperation of the Board of 
Trustees with whom I have been associated since the 
opening of the College. The labors devolving upon 
them have been various and arduous. The erection 
of these buildings, the appointment of officers of 
government and instruction, the care of the lands 
with the numerous improvements thereon, the open- 
ing of highways, and — by no means the least of 
their labors — the procuring of funds for all, have 
imposed upon them burdens which strong and resolute 
men alone could bear. Aside from the original 
resources secured' to the College by the efforts of our 
late lamented agent. Rev. Dr. Skinner, the Trustees 
have added by their own energy, and in great part 
from their own private treasuries, to the present and 
prospective funds of the College, not less than a 
hundred and twenty-live thousand dollars, exclusive 
of about seventy-five thousand contributed by friends 
without solicitation. Continuing to receive that 
public confidence which has hitherto been their 
strength, they will bear the Institution on to a 
jDOsition of enviable success. 

Before concluding these remarks I may be indulged 
in a few words to you, young gentlemen, between 
whom and myself are recognized by these services 
relations at once interesting and responsible. I 



18 



regret, gentlemen, that you who have just received 
the honors of the College, will be no longer here. I 
regret that I cannot claim any share in the well- 
earned triumphs of the hour. But I turn with 
confidence to the classes that remain. The diligence 
you have manifested, and the decorum, and general 
good order you have preserved, since the death of 
the late President, were spoken of by the Faculty, 
and honorably noted by the Trustees at their late 
annual meeting. This fact gives me great satisfac- 
tion. It assures me that your representative, in his 
address just now pronounced, did but utter the general 
sentiment of respect felt towards the government of 
the College, and of sacred veneration for the peerless 
man who lately presided over it. And while your 
good wishes on my own behalf are grateful to my 
feelings, I shall rely on your manly cooperation to 
promote the objects for which you tarry here. You 
have been drawn hither by an ardent thirst for knowl- 
edge, and by a desire to contribute, both by your 
presence as students and by your successes in after 
life, to the renown of your Alma Mater. You find 
the life of the student a life of arduous toil and 
frequent restraints, as well as of strengthening hopes 
and increasing joys. These toils and restraints will 
be borne with relative ease, in the ratio that they 
are self-imposed ; and these hopes and joys will prove 
serene and abiding, in the ratio that they flow from 
conscious rectitude of heart. 

It lies with yourselves, gentlemen, to determine 
whether or not your Collegiate life, as well as your 
future life in your respective professions, shall be 
honorable and successful. The tastes you will here 



39 



nurture, the habits you will here form, the reputation 
you will here foreshadow, will exert an almost con- 
trolling influence upon your future. 

Remember, then, the vast interests involved in 
these years. Remember the sacrifices, prayers, and 
expectations of your parents and friends. Take a 
broad and just view of what is possible for yourselves, 
and remember that the life of all hope, of all effort, 
and of all success, if it shall quicken you at all, must 
be infused into your own blood. 

Let me invite you, young gentlemen, in every 
season of doubt and perplexity, to turn with confi- 
dence to the Faculty as your constituted advisers. 
No others will know you as well as they; none 
counsel you more disinterestedly or wisely than they. 
And if their counsel shall sometimes seem distasteful, 
consider that it is void of flavor from personal desire. 

Finally, gentlemen, on behalf of this corps of Pro- 
fessors and Teachers, as well as for myself, I welcome 
you to the continued privileges of these Halls. We 
greet you, one and all, with affectionate cheer. We 
cordially extend to you the right hand of help. Be 
true to your aim, true to yourselves, true to your 
God. And whether you shall be called to the service 
of your country in her halls of legislation or on her 
fields of conflict, or pass your lives in the professions, 
in the pathways of trade, or in humbler enterprises, 
you will occupy fields of assured usefulness, and 
garner from them the richest harvests of peace. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



028 305 392 1 



